I followed Xue, keeping a distance of about one meter from her.
I have rehearsed what I should say later countless times in my mind, but perhaps because of this, I am secretly excited that this moment has finally arrived.
The corridor was very quiet, and the sound of our footsteps was particularly clear.
I noticed the pure white long-sleeved nightgown on Xue's body - it was the first time I saw her dressed like this.
The contrasting dress made her previous indifferent image become much gentler and a bit lazier.
We're at the door.
Xue opened the door and stood aside:
"Go in."
It seemed like she didn't mind me entering her room at all.
"Excuse me."
So I didn't hesitate.
Connected to the entrance is a small living room, where there are only two single sofas. The weak firelight from the fireplace is just enough for me to barely see the things around the sofa - and it is also the only lighting in use in the entire room. p>
The area inside the small living room is dark.
Maybe you don’t want me to look around...
As Xue wished, I put away my unnecessary eyes and sat on the sofa, and then Xue also sat down.
"What do you want to drink? Coffee?"
"No need to bother."
"Hmm."
"..."
"..."
Snow is waiting for me to speak.
Like me, she doesn't intend to say too many unnecessary words.
"Then I said it?"
"Well, let me hear what you mean by the truth."
Xue suddenly became calm, and her thin eyebrows drooped slightly.
"Let's start from the beginning...Miss Schimmel was killed in her room, with a fatal wound in her heart. Logically, it should have been done by an acquaintance. And just right...your...
I stayed with Miss Schimmel."
"..."
Why don’t you explain yourself...
"I found excess water in Miss Schimmel's blood... As for the murder weapon, it was an ice pick that had been cast with solid magic, right? After the murder, the ice pick was stained with blood and could not be carried around, so it was thrown away.
On the bloodstains...Miss Schimmel died in her room. By the time someone realized the abnormality, the ice pick would have melted long ago."
"What a great idea."
The snow remains calm.
It’s so calm.
However, this is only a small beginning.
"Thank you for the compliment~~"
"..."
"I remember... the time you entered the attic was after nine o'clock, right? Miss Schimmel was in the attic at half past eight, so you went to find her immediately. And around nine forty,
The lord came to see the noble Lord... You and the lord both met your friends that night, and they both died by the same murderer. Don't you think it's a coincidence?"
"..."
As if she didn't understand what I meant, Xue remained silent.
"The lord and the noble Lord only stayed together for less than an hour, but you spent a full two hours and five minutes."
"So what?"
"..."
"..."
"If I remember correctly, there were witnesses when the lord entered and exited the attic...The time you left the attic is unknown."
"..."
"...If it was because it was late at night, it would be quite normal."
I changed the topic:
"But do you know? I didn't find your shoe prints on the path connecting the back door."
"This..."
Xue opened her mouth slightly, but in the end she said nothing.
"..."
"Then, let's take a look at the assassination incident at Earl's Mansion...According to the autopsy report, the wound was exactly the same as Miss Schimmel's, and the time of death was just after the lord finished his speech."
"..."
"At this time, no one saw you, including me...Based on this, the police officers speculated that you assassinated the noble Lord, but -"
I lengthened my tone so that Xue could hear the next words clearly:
"Looking at it from another angle, there are obviously two possibilities. One is that you didn't come to the inauguration ceremony at all, and the other is that you came and were present throughout the whole process, but no one noticed."
"..."
"How about it? This is a good idea, isn't it?"
I smiled at Xue to calm down my mood.
Xue pursed her lips tightly.
"...Your words are as vague as ever."
"Although it's not exactly what you imagined, I did... analyze it from the perspective of the truth."
"..."
"In addition, according to the information of the police officers, it seems that you were witnessed by multiple people near the noble lord's room... In this case, you are the murderer no matter what."
Faced with my conclusion, Xue didn't show a trace of panic or embarrassment.
"So, this is your truth?"
"That's not true~~"
"..."
"Now, here comes the truth——"
I inadvertently cast a glance towards the dark corner deep in the room.
"Previously, my reasoning more or less relied on the help of the police officers, but... relying on my own thinking, there is actually more than one way to cause the two murders."
"..."
"For example, in the attic murder case, the people who could stab Miss Schimmel in the heart while she was absolutely conscious were not only acquaintances, but also certain nobles."
As long as the blood suppression ability is strong enough, it will be difficult for the opponent to resist.
I can't forget the rows of heads lowered to the emperor more than a month ago.
I heard my own sighs trembling.
"Xue, you are a demon... No, you are the host of a demonic mate, right?"
"...Eh?"
Probably because she didn't expect that I would say such a thing, Xue's pupils suddenly became very large, and her fingers involuntarily dug into the sofa.
"What you have... is not a [Shadow Dating] with many restrictions, but a [Usurp Dating] that can be changed at will."
[Usurping Dating] is recorded in the library's "Encyclopedia of Dating Categories".
After confirming that I was not joking, Xue's eyes became sharp - she understood everything.
"Based on this, the lord who was sent out of the loft by Mr. Wyatt through the back door on the night of the murder in the loft was actually you... As for the real lord, he was still in the loft - that's why Snow
There are no prints of your shoes on the ground."
"..."
"Pretend to be the lord and create a perfect alibi for him... At the Earl's Mansion, you did the same thing, right?"
I looked at Xue's increasingly gloomy face, feeling very uncomfortable in my heart.
"At the inauguration ceremony, you become a lord and appear to the public, and try to make yourself visible to as many people as possible, don't you?"
"...What basis do you have?"
"This——"
I picked up the little ball on my chest - "flamingo".
"At that time, when you saw it, you subconsciously recognized me... I have only told you about it to one person, not to mention... the lord will not call me 'Mr. Lonely Old Man'"
'."
"..."
"You wanted to kill the noble Lord, and took advantage of Miss Schimmel's death to ask the noble Lord to move to the Earl's Mansion on the grounds of protection... In the first month, before official action was taken, in order to prevent me from moving too quickly
Knowing the murderer’s intention, that’s why so many obstacles were set up.”
The police station did not have enough manpower, so intelligence collection was extremely slow; the archives, testing agencies, etc. were inaccessible due to verification of citizen information, so fingerprints and blood could not be verified in person;
bounty mission, so that the relevant interrogation cannot be carried out...
Plus the client is me - the notorious private detective.
The possibility of solving the case early is almost zero.
"So, after the murder at Earl's Mansion, many police officers were sent to take over the case... All the information I had access to was provided by them, and there is no way to determine whether the content is true or false... If it were anyone else,
They must have been led away a long time ago, but fortunately I am an exception."
Regarding this point, I was fully awakened to this through my divine eyes when Manda and I were describing her presumed motive for the murder:
[The chance of the murder motive being true is 0%]
The information provided by those police officers is not credible.
"I've always been skeptical of the police officers' intelligence... The No Walkers Alliance must also have been given a silence order, right? I have all your dating information, bounty records, etc.
Not found."
"...You have always been very firm in your direction..."
"That's right——"
I looked at Snow, who hadn’t said "in other words" for a long time.
"I will always believe in you."
"Why..."
Xue lowered her head and made a sound like a low roar.
"Why...don't you doubt me? How did you get the direction...?"
"...God's gift."
"God's gift..."
"I have divine eyes... From the moment I saw you, I knew that you would not kill anyone."
The first time I looked at Xue in the tavern, my plug-in reacted:
[The chance that this person is the real murderer is 0%]
At the time, I thought it was quite strange...but thanks to this, I was able to talk to Snow.
The day after he met her, Schimuel was killed.
Snow became the first person I excluded as a murderer.
...but the following story shows various signs that Xue is the murderer. As a person who knows the truth in advance, it is impossible for me not to notice this anomaly.
"However, it seems that everyone is trying to blame you, but you don't want to defend yourself at all. It's like... you voluntarily became the scapegoat of the murderer - this has become something I can't let go of." p>
"..."
"I know the truth, but I never tell anyone."
"..."
"Because I want to clear your name...poor guy."
"You..."
The detective will not reveal the truth he knows until he obtains the final truth.
I want to find out from the perspective of a bystander the purpose of those guys in laying the blame on Xue.
"You are also vaguely hoping, right?"
Despite efforts to conceal it, Snow's thoughts still occasionally emerge.
She bit her lower lip and tried her best to control the emotions in her heart. As I said the words she had hidden for a long time, her eyes became a little moist.
Then, with her sigh, I think she gave up the idea of supporting herself.
"Okay~~ Let's enter the final stage——"
I tried my best to sound relaxed.
"The one who killed Schimuel and the nobles, used excuses to control the police station, used his huge power to openly commit crimes, blocked the information that you had a magical mate and controlled you, and tried to make you a scapegoat——"
"Stop talking!"
Xue shouted hoarsely.
"Pah——! Pah——! Pah——! Pah——! Pah——!"
At the same time, a burst of applause came from deep in the room, which was particularly loud in a closed environment.
In the darkness, a person slowly walked out.
"It's wonderful, it's wonderful... Mr. Detective, but that's the end of it."
"You are indeed here."
I stood up.
As early as when I entered the door, Gale told me who the other party was.
"Long time no see, lord, or...does 'real murderer' sound more appropriate?"
"The only thing that stops me is you. It's really funny... I thought you were just a short-sighted person."
"What an egregious misunderstanding."
"Haha... I didn't expect that the private detective I appointed actually has a divine talent. What an unexpected and big mistake."
I didn't see any regret on the other person's angular face. Instead, his smile was full of confidence and disdain.
He naturally knew that even if I learned the whole truth, I was alone and could not pose any threat.